Disarmed. Photo by Robert Catto.

After an international festival run, Lucy Green’s provocative short film, Disarmed lands on Omeleto (stream below) – redefining how we talk about survival.

After premiering at Cinequest Film Festival and winning awards across four continents, Disarmed – a sharp, psychologically layered 7-minute short written, produced, and co-directed by Lucy Green – is now making its global online debut on Omeleto, YouTube’s leading short film platform for award-winning independent cinema.

Based on real events, Disarmed challenges a persistent cultural myth: that “strong women” don’t become victims – and if they do, they fight back.

In 2013, Lucy Green was seated at a dinner table during a discussion about a domestic violence case when someone turned to her and said, “Well, someone like you wouldn’t find themselves in that situation.”

“That was the first time I became fully aware of the misconception that women who appear ‘strong’ are somehow protected from violence – particularly from someone they love,” Green recalls.

She knew it wasn’t true – and the assumption behind it quietly began to take root. Years later, while living in Los Angeles, Lucy experienced an attempted sexual assault by a stranger.

“Because the man was a stranger, and suggested he was armed, people were quick to empathise. I was ‘allowed’ to freeze,” she explains. “It made me realise that society has these unwritten rules about what an ‘acceptable victim’ looks like. And I desperately needed to challenge that.”

Disarmed rejects the traditional “survivor story” arc and leans into emotional realism, discomfort, and even a touch of dark irony. The result is a film that’s hard to categorise – and even harder to forget.

Since its 2024 premiere at Cinequest in San Jose, Disarmed has screened at more than 15 international festivals and received Best Film awards in Italy, Canada, Poland, and Paraguay.

In late 2024, it was featured at a gala hosted by the Italian division of the European Parliament in Rome, alongside a video message from Green addressing the psychological impact of fear, the need to break stereotypes about survivors, and the importance of redefining resilience.

Now, 18 months after its premiere, Disarmed is finally available to audiences worldwide.

“This is not a story of triumph – or catharsis. It’s a reminder that we must stop expecting survivors to earn their survival – or fit the ending we think they deserve,” says Green.

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